Class Action Claims SeaWorld Falsely Advertised Participating Restaurants in ‘All-Day Dining Deal’ Program

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A proposed class action claims purchasers of SeaWorld’s “All-Day Dining Deal” were not told that some of the park’s supposedly participating restaurants would not honor the program.

According to the lawsuit out of California federal court, SeaWorld falsely represented that the All-Day Dining Deal would allow customers to “[e]at and drink all day as often as once every hour” at its San Diego theme park without informing them that many of the purportedly participating restaurants would not accept the tickets or would be unavailable.

The case alleges consumers relied on SeaWorld’s representations when deciding to add the All-Day Dining Deal to their tickets and were financially harmed when they were denied the promised benefits of the offer.

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc. operates 12 theme parks in the U.S., including SeaWorld San Diego, which is an “animal theme park, oceanarium, outside aquarium and marine mammal park,” according to the lawsuit. When customers purchase tickets for SeaWorld San Diego online, they are offered the option to upgrade their ticket with an “All-Day Dining Deal” for up to $44.99 per person, the suit says. The program, according to the filing, allows adult purchasers to visit participating restaurants once every hour and receive an entrée, a side or dessert, and a soft drink or iced tea. Children ages three to nine can redeem a kid’s meal once per hour until the restaurants’ closing time, the case adds.

The lawsuit alleges that the list of participating restaurants on SeaWorld’s website includes Explorer’s Café, Shipwreck Reef Café, Calypso Bay Smokehouse, and Mama Stella’s Pizza Kitchen, while the legal terms on the tickets themselves also name Big Bird’s Bistro, Coral Market, Shark Market, and Orca West Market & Pretzel Shop as additional participating restaurants.

The plaintiff, a Las Vegas resident, says he purchased on July 10, 2021 tickets for himself and three family members to visit SeaWorld San Diego the next day. The plaintiff included the defendant’s All-Day Dining Deal as a bundle with each ticket for a total of roughly $160.00 on top of the price for the tickets, according to the filing.

When the plaintiff visited SeaWorld San Diego on July 11, he and his family visited the Calypso Bay Smokehouse to redeem their free meals, the case says. After waiting in line for 45 minutes, however, the plaintiff and his family were denied use of their All-Day Dining Deal even though they had not used the tickets within the same hour, the suit alleges.

The plaintiff says his family underwent a similar experience when attempting to visit the Orca West Market & Pretzel Shop, “where restaurant employees refused to honor the ‘All-Day Dining Deal.’” According to the case, the family was told that the restaurant did not participate in the program and that SeaWorld had already been informed of its non-participation.

“Thus, Defendant knowingly misrepresented to Plaintiff and others similarly situated that various restaurants participated in the ‘All-Day Dining Deal’ program when that was not true,” the complaint attests.

The plaintiff further alleges that the Big Bird’s Bistro restaurant was closed on the day his family visited the park. According to the suit, the plaintiff grew “increasingly frustrated” that his family was unable to redeem the promised benefits of the All-Day Dining Deal and expressed his negative experience online to SeaWorld’s Guest Relations department. Over a week later, the department allegedly contacted the plaintiff about his complaint and asked that he submit a “clear photograph or screenshot of his tickets.” While the plaintiff emailed both a PDF and screenshot of his ticket that same day, he had still not received a response as of the date the complaint was filed, according to the suit.

The plaintiff looks to represent anyone in the U.S. who, anytime within the last four years and through the date of trial, paid money for the “All-Day Dining Deal” program at SeaWorld San Diego, where one or more of the purportedly participating restaurants were not participating or honoring the program on the date of their visit. The case also proposes a state-specific subclass of those who paid for the program while in California.

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